Conventional semiconductor etch processing systems utilize gas sticks which are a series of gas distribution and control components such as a mass flow controller, one or more pressure transducers and/or regulators, a heater, one or more filters or purifiers, and shutoff valves. The components used and their particular arrangement in a gas stick can vary depending upon their design and application, with many component arrangements being known in the art. In a typical semiconductor processing arrangement, over seventeen gases are connected to the chamber via gas supply lines, gas distribution components and substrates, and mixing manifolds. These are attached to a base plate forming a complete system known as “gas panel” or “gas box”.
The conventional semiconductor etch processing system depends on the use of several hazardous and non-hazardous processing gases and carefully measured delivery of over seventeen gases from the gas source to the processing plasma chamber via the gas supply lines in a synchronized mode. Such systems usually require gas delivery panel for coupling high purity gases for semiconductor etch processing systems or other thin film coating processes.
In semiconductor manufacturing, processes have become increasingly intolerant of particle contamination as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease and there is less room to accommodate more components. One source for particle contamination is the gas stick itself that delivers gases from the source of high purity gases to the semiconductor processing chamber where such particle contaminants commonly get deposited onto the semiconductor devices that are being processed. Another source for particle contamination is the exposure of components in a gas delivery system to room air during maintenance and repair of individual gas delivery components.
One approach to eliminating connection parts, such as tubing and couplers, facilitating maintenance of the components of the gas stick, and to reduce contamination is to “down mount” the components on multiple manifold blocks and connection weldements. These are also known as IGS or surface mounted gas delivery systems. However, each component of a gas stick typically comprises highly machined parts, making each component relatively expensive to manufacture and replace. When a component fails, the entire component is replaced even though in most instances the failure is mechanical (and in the case of a mass flow sensor, it is the sensor that usually fails). Each component is typically constructed with a mounting block, which in turn is made with multiple machine operations, making the component expensive. Thus, while down mounting the component parts on multiple fixing blocks solves one problem, it still is relatively expensive to replace defective parts.
Furthermore, gas panels are typically manufactured with three or more gas sticks since manufacturing less gas sticks is expensive and uses additional parts that may not be necessary to use. Thus, a user has no option other than having a set number of gas sticks. For semiconductor applications, the common number of gas sticks is 3, 6, 9, 12, and 16. However, if a user has a 9 gas stick gas panel installed and wants to add one or two additional gas sticks, the user would be required to buy a gas pallet having a minimum of at least three gas sticks. There is no efficient method of connecting a single gas stick to the existing gas panels without removing the entire gas stick, risking contamination, and/or using additional manual effort and time to remove and reinstall the gas delivery components.
Alternatively, should the user have a 9 gas stick gas panel installed and later only needs to use 7 gas sticks, 2 gas sticks would not be used on the gas panel. This would result in excess parts of the gas panel that is not used and removal of the excess gas sticks from the gas panel would not be possible. This situation creates “dead-leg”, a section of conduit or manifold through which gas does not flow. Dead-leg is considered to be a source of contamination.